Students compete at the "Ring the Golden Bell" contest held by the IUCN and Education and Training Department of Vinh City, Nghệ An Province. VNS Photo Tố Như

VINH CITY — Students from 10 primary schools across the city of Vinh in the central province of Nghệ An competed in a "Ring the Golden Bell" contest about environmental protection.

The contest themed "Chung Tay Hành Động-Gìn Giữ Môi Trường Xanh" (Act Together-Protect Environment) took place on Wednesday at Phượng Hoàng School in Duy Tân Street in Vinh City with the aim of helping students understand the importance of the environment and provide them adequate knowledge on how to effectively protect it.

The event was organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Vinh's Education and Training Department, the Lagom Lagom Joint Stock Company and the Vietnam Business for Environment (VB4E), an alliance initiated by IUCN and founded in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and TH Group Joint Stock Company.

Students participating in the contest were equipped with knowledge about the collection, classification and recycling of waste, especially garbage, plastic and milk cartons. They also had chances to improve their understanding of the conservation of nature and rare animals.

The contest also introduced them to the process of recycling milk cartons through direct experience activities which helped encourage them to sort, collect and recycle waste properly, and at the same time, inspire their love for the environment.

Plastic pollution has become one of the most urgent environmental issues in the world as well as in Việt Nam.

According to IUCN, the country is currently ranked fourth in the world's 20 top countries with the highest volume of plastic waste discharged into the sea. Due to inefficient management, about 0.28 - 0.73 million tonnes of plastic from these 20 countries are annually poured out into the sea. The rate of plastic waste discharged into the ocean in Việt Nam in 2018 was about 4.7kg per person per year.

Nguyễn Thuỳ Anh, IUCN Communications Officer, said: "All waste today, if not handled properly, will follow the water flow into the sea. In Nghệ An alone, about 1,800 tonnes of solid waste are produced every day but only about 1,400 tonnes are collected."

A bag of milk containers that have been recycled for use. VNS Photo Tố Như

Many landfills in the province are facing overloading such as Đông Vinh and Diễn Ngọc, according to Anh.

"Without good management, this amount of waste will affect the coast and the livelihoods of local people there," she said.

The IUCE official appealed for locals, particularly students, to actively support and participate in activities of environmental protection.

“From small but practical actions, let's reduce the use of single-use plastic. If you have already used them, try to collect and recycle so that plastic waste does not leak into the environment. By doing so, you have made a great contribution to protecting the environment,” said Anh.

Deputy Director of Vinh's Department of Education and Training Department, Ngô Thị Nguyệt, said the contest had created a meaningful playground for students to improve their skills and knowledge of the environment, plastic waste, climate change and nature conservation.

“The children's actions will start from recycling milk cartons that they often throw away every day. They will be more aware of the environment and reduce the use of single-use plastic. From there, it is the students themselves who will act to spread positive messages about environmental protection and raise individual responsibility for preserving our green planet," said Nguyệt.

Speaking after winning the contest, Nguyễn Minh Quân, a student of 5A1 class at Phượng Hoàng School, said: “Thanks to the contest, I have learned how to recycle plastic and collect waste. I will try to apply this knowledge in real life so that I can help make the earth greener and more beautiful. From now on, I can also guide other friends and children to put their garbage in the right place and sort waste so that it can be recycled."

Environmental protection is an important subject in the curriculum of the education and training in Vinh. The dissemination of environmental knowledge has been integrated into the curricula.

VB4E is Việt Nam’s leading national Business and Environment Alliance engaging businesses in protecting the environment and conserving the nature’s value in the country.

With a mission of increasing the participation of businesses in environmental protection and biodiversity conservation in Việt Nam, the VB4E Alliance has conducted many projects and programmes to connect businesses with environmental protection organisations and community media. — VNS